Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome both Ministers to the committee. I have only one question for the Minister, which concerns the €50 million fund. I know that he is bringing it to Cabinet shortly and he might not be able to share all the details, if any, with us. It was initially announced in media circles that the funding was going to equate to €250 per student. Will he give the committee any indication if the funding will be per student or per head or will it be allocated on a needs basis with some type of assessment in that regard? Will the funding be available to SUSI students only or will it be open to students who are studying in the UK, although they might be doing so from Ireland at the moment given the Covid restrictions? I ask the Minister to give the committee an indication of whether there will be an assessment for the allocation of such funding.

If there is time, and I am happy for him to answer in writing, on a separate issue, there was an initiative for a €3,000 incentive for employers to take on apprentices until the end of June or July. I ask him to outline his plans for that kind of incentive going forward.